FIG. 4 is an explanatory view depicting a state in which equipment is mounted on a rack. In the case where wide equipment such as an apparatus 6 depicted in FIG. 4 is mounted on a rack (e.g. a 19-inch rack), there is little space on the sides of the apparatus 6. Besides, in the case where other equipment is mounted on the rack, there is little space above and below the apparatus 6. Accordingly, the following method is used in an operation of mounting such equipment on the rack. Short rear brackets 30 are fixed, by screws, to two rear rack posts 10 of four rack posts 10 provided in the front and back and on both sides of the rack, as depicted in FIG. 4. Rear portions of inner rails 40 attached to the equipment (apparatus 6) are then inserted into the rear brackets 30.
With this method, however, when the worker inserts the rear portions of the inner rails 40 into the rear brackets 30, he or she cannot see the rear brackets 30 from in front of the apparatus 6. Two persons need to work in front of and behind the rack, in order to mount the apparatus 6 on the rack. Moreover, when the worker pulls out the apparatus 6 from the rack, he or she has difficulty in recognizing the timing at which the inner rails 40 disengage from the rear brackets 30. The worker may drop the apparatus 6 unless supported by another worker from under the apparatus 6.
Another method of mounting the equipment on the rack is a method that uses slide rails including inner rails and rail assemblies. The rail assemblies are fixed to the front rack posts, and fastened to the rear brackets fixed to the rear rack posts. The worker inserts the rear portions of the inner rails attached to the equipment, into the rail assemblies. The inner rails are slidable in the longitudinal direction of the rail assemblies. This method does not need an operation of inserting the rear portions of the inner rails attached to the equipment into the rear brackets.
The slide rails each have a mechanism (hereafter referred to as “lock portion”) of locking halfway through pulling out the inner rail from the rail assembly (for example, see Patent Literature (PTL) 1). A lock portion shaped as depicted in FIGS. 5A to 5E is described in PTL 1. FIGS. 5A to 5E are explanatory views depicting an example of the lock portion of the slide rail. FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the lock portion. FIGS. 5B to 5E are sectional views of the lock portion, depicting the longitudinal section of the lock portion depicted in FIG. 5A.
FIG. 5B depicts the state of the lock portion during slide lock. FIG. 5C depicts the state of the lock portion during slide lock release. FIG. 5D depicts the state of the lock portion when pulling out the inner rail 40. FIG. 5E depicts the state of the lock portion when further pulling out the inner rail 40 from the state depicted in FIG. 5D. The hollow arrow in each of FIGS. 5A to 5E indicates the direction in which the inner rail 40 is pulled out.
In the lock portion described in PTL 1, a bent portion (lock protrusion portion 20b) provided on a rail assembly 20 enters a lock hole 50b formed in an intermediate part of a locking arm 50 fixed to the inner rail 40, thus stopping the slide halfway through pulling out the inner rail 40, as depicted in FIGS. 5A to 5C. The provision of such a mechanism in the slide rail enables a safe equipment mounting operation. The “bent portion” mentioned here indicates the part from the bent and turned section to the tip.